1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic filing system in which the automatic updating of retrieval data is voluntarily inhibited.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, an image filing system has been put to practical use. This system comprises a scanner (i.e., a two-dimensional scanning device), an optical disk device, and an output device such as a CRT display or a printer. The scanner reads images from documents prepared in great quantities. The optical disk device stores the data representing the images read from the documents. Whenever necessary, any image data desired is retrieved from the optical disk. The output device displays the image data or prints it out, so that anyone authorized i.e. an operator can see or read the data.
Items of image data are recorded on an optical disk, in the form of four hierarchical classes, i.e., cabinets, binders, documents, and pages. Specific keys are assigned to each of the cabinets, binders, documents and pages. A plurality of keys assigned to the individual binders, are unified and recorded on a magnetic disk as a retrieval data item including title tables and page tables. To retrieve any one of the image data items from the optical disk device, an operator inputs, to the filing system, the retrieval data item assigned to the binder containing that image data item. In response to the retrieval data item thus input, desired image data designated by the retrieval data item can be retrieval from the optical disk device.
To retrieve image data from a desired binder, an operator inserts the optical disk into the optical disk device and then opens the binder. Then, the filing system automatically compares the history data stored in the optical disk with the contents of the title table and also those of the page table, both corresponding to the opened binder and recorded on the magnetic disk. If image data items have been added to, or erased from the optical disk, by means of another filing system, the history data is different from the contents of both tables recorded on the magnetic disk. In this case, the electronic filing system automatically updates both tables in accordance with the history data. The title table and the page table can be updated within a relatively short time if the opened binder contains only a few documents. However, if the binder contains a great number of documents, a considerably long time is required to update these tables. In this case, the operator must wait for that long time before he or she can retrieve any desired image data item from the binder, even if the operator wishes to retrieve an item of image data using non-updated retrieval data.
Accordingly it is demanded that an electronic filing system be developed, which updates or does not update the title table and page table recorded on the magnetic disk at the discretion of an operator, when operator inserts the optical disk into the disk device and opens the binder.